«Companys consigue la autonomía para Cataluña»

The hotheaded, toothbrush-mustached Spanish Catalan, Luis Companys, became a rebel when he added to the chaos of Spain’s October 1934 revolution by declaring his native province, rich, industrial Catalonia, an independent republic. He became a martyr when the Government sent him to jail for 30 years. He became a hero when the Left victory in the Spanish general election last month sent him and 30,000 other rebels of 1934 rollicking out of Spain’s jails. This week he became a liberator when he wangled from Spain’s Republican Premier Manuel Azaña «local autonomy» for Catalonia. In Spain old issues never die, and States’ Rights is the deathless battle cry of Catalonia & Companys.